While continuing to attack Israel and reassert Arab-Chinese solidarity, the Peking radio suddenly came out this week with broadcasts repudiating a publication in Arab language, issued in Peking, in which the Soviet Union was denounced as responsible for the creation of Israel.
The publication carried an introduction by the Palestine Liberation Organization which has the destruction of Israel as its aim. However, in statements attributed to Rashid Sayyid Jarbu, the head of the PLO office in Peking, the Red Chinese radio denied that the PLO office in Peking was responsible for the anti-Soviet publication now being circulated in the Arab world. The publication carries quotations by various Soviet spokesmen in 1947-1949 supporting Jewish aspirations in Palestine, the Palestine partition plan, and Israeli statehood.
Peking Radio now claims that the publication is “sheer forgery” meant to split anti-Israel forces. The claim is made that its “despicable aim is to malign the PLO and its mission in Peking, sabotage the liberation struggle of the Palestinian (Arab) people, and sow discord in the friendly relations between the Chinese people and the (Arab) peoples of Palestine and the Arab countries.”
“The Chinese Government and people have always supported the just struggles of the peoples of Palestine and the Arab countries, ” the Peking broadcast said. “By their anti-imperialist struggles, the (Arab) peoples of Palestine and the Arab countries have in turn supported the Chinese people. We are deeply convinced that no one can sabotage the just, anti-imperialist struggle of the Palestinian and all other Arab peoples. The militant friendship between the Chinese and Arab peoples can in no way be impaired.”
It appeared in Washington that the Chinese had indeed issued the anti-Soviet Arab propaganda through the PLO and then “repudiated” it to avoid responsibility. The aim was to spread a line in the Arab world that Peking was the real enemy of Israel, while Russia was guilty of duplicity on the Palestine issue. This bid for favor among Arab extremists came at a time when the new Syrian regime indicated a marked response toward China’s call for a “war of national liberation” against Israel by the Arab masses.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
